Should Students Have to Pass the Immigrant Citizenship Test to Graduate?


The first day of school this year you took a quiz featuring 25 questions from the test-bank used for the Immigrant Citizenship Test. As a final step among many towards earning American citizenship, immigrants are required to interview with an official of the Immigration and Naturalization bureau to prove that they understand our government and history well enough to participate as an active citizen. Their test is not multiple choice.

It has been suggested, and a number of states are acting upon the suggestion, to require students to pass the Immigrant Citizenship Test in order to graduate from high school.

What do you think about that suggestion? Are you in favor or opposed? Why? What might be some benefits or drawbacks of requiring this, If required, what kinds of questions should be on the test? What do you think students should have to prove that they know about American History and Government in order to graduate?

If not a requirement to graduate from high school- what do you think about making such a test a requirement to vote? (This could be connected- like voter registration already is, to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. When people apply for their first drivers license, they could also apply to register to vote... pending passage of a citizenship test and turning 18)

This discussion will run until Sunday, September 28th, 2015